Radio frequency over glass (RFoG) networks enable the delivery of data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) signals in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks. This allows a multiple service operator (MSO) to offer optical transmission to at or near a subscriber's premises, but continue to use the radio frequency (RF) infrastructure inside the premises. One problem with the use of RFoG operations on DOCSIS networks is the limited dynamic range of an RFoG optical networking unit (ONU) device. The ONU terminates the optical connection from the headend and converts the optical signals to radio frequency for transmission in the subscriber's premises. The ONU includes a limited dynamic range that may not satisfy the wide dynamic range of upstream orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA) signals, such as the DOCSIS 3.1 upstream OFDMA signals. For example, the DOCSIS 3.1 bursts over OFDMA channels from one customer premise equipment (CPE), such as a cable modem, can have a very small bandwidth, such as being as small as one mini-slot, to very large bandwidth (e.g., covering multiple channels of \ 200 MHz or more of spectrum). The wide dynamic range of the bursts may be problematic when mated with the limited dynamic range of the ONUs and lead to laser clipping in the case of stronger and larger bandwidth upstream OFDMA signal levels and also cause problems with the laser not even turning on when having to transmit lower strength and smaller bandwidth upstream OFDMA signal levels.
The limited dynamic range of upstream signals may be solved by running the ONU in a continuous (CW) mode, which keeps the laser always on. While the limited dynamic range of the ONU may be addressed by this solution, the power consumption of the ONU becomes inefficient by operating the ONU in the continuous mode, may also funnel upstream noise in the signal because the laser is always on, and may require ONU feature support, configuration, and management to implement the continuous mode.